In an ever increasing endeavor to improve quality of software testing, automation of regression testing is essential. The automation of the regression testing of a software application includes using an optimal test automation framework along with suitable test scenarios. The building of the test automation framework is a technically complex and time consuming task. Also, the complexities in building of the test automation framework increase with increase in number of parameters associated with the software application.
The existing systems for automating regression testing encounter various technical challenges while building the test automation framework in system testing. The system testing is a software testing wherein a complete and integrated software application is tested. Moreover, the system testing may include multiple types of software applications such as a web based application, a windows applications, or a main-frame application. The output of a web based application may be provided as an input to main-frame application. It is a possibility that one or more different software applications may be involved in one or more processes. The test automation framework built for web based applications may not be suitable for the test automation framework used for the main-framework applications. Therefore, finding a holistic approach of building test automation framework for all types of software applications or behaviors is a big challenge.
Moreover, technical complexities may increase during integration testing or system testing. In the integration testing, individual modules of software application are first tested in isolation. After the modules are unit tested, the modules are integrated sequentially, till all the modules are integrated, and validated if requirements are implemented correctly. Moreover, the integration testing is not performed at end of a software development cycle, rather it is performed simultaneously with development of the software application. Thus, few modules may not be available for testing. Therefore, the technical challenge for building the test automation framework is present in identifying the test automation framework for the modules which does not exist at the time of testing.
Additionally, technical challenges arise when test automation has to be performed in agile projects wherein software application development and testing is conducted concurrently. In such circumstances, software application objects may not be available during a sprint. The technical challenge is present in building a test automation framework for testing the software applications where objects are not visible. Also, technical complexities are increased when multiple types of testing are involved. For example, first part of testing may be functional testing, second part of the testing may be performance testing, and third part of the testing may be service based testing. In such scenarios, building a common test automation framework may be complex and time consuming.